"Do any of you know what activity we're doing for PE today?" Misaki asked as she stepped out of the cssroom, heading toward the changing room.

  "Not a clue," I replied, shaking my head. Yuka and Sanae mirrored the gesture, both equally clueless. My gaze drifted to Sanae. Come to think of it, this would be her first time actually participating in PE at this school. Last week, she'd only been watching from the sidelines. "Are you going to be okay?" I asked, noticing a slight tension in her demeanor. The joint PE session was always a bit more intense than usual, and I knew we'd be diving into some competitive activities again.

  She lightly clenched her fists, meeting my gaze with a determined look. "Don't worry, I can handle it," she said firmly.

  I smiled and gently pced a hand on her head, "Just make sure not to push yourself too hard," I reminded her.

  To my surprise, Yuka shuffled closer, her shoulder brushing against mine as she whispered, "I want some encouragement too."

  My smile turned a little awkward, but I didn't refuse. I lifted my free hand and pced it atop her head as well.

  After that, we parted ways, heading to the changing rooms assigned to our respective genders.

  Once we changed into our PE uniforms, we regrouped in the gymnasium, where the two teachers, one from each css began expining the activities pnned for today.

  "The activity we'll be doing today is called *Capture the Fg*, though we've made a few adjustments to fit it for indoor py," the teacher announced, pausing briefly to make sure he had everyone's attention.

  "Some of you might already be familiar with the game, but for those who aren't, I'll give a quick rundown, along with the modifications. Each team will consist of six pyers, chosen at random. The six will be divided into three roles: two defenders, who will guard your team's fg; three attackers, whose job is to infiltrate the enemy's territory and capture their fg; and one unfreezer, whose role is to rescue captured teammates.

  When attackers step into enemy territory, defenders can freeze them simply by touching them. Once frozen, they can only be freed if the unfreezer touches them. A few important rules to note: defenders are not allowed to leave their own territory to attack, only defenders are allowed to freeze opponents, and unfreezers cannot be frozen.

  Also, unlike the traditional version of the game, you don't need to bring the enemy's fg back to your side. The moment you successfully capture it, your team wins.

  If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

  After a few students asked minor questions here and there, we moved on to forming teams by drawing lots.

  By some stroke of luck, Misaki and I ended up on the same team, while Yuka and Sanae were grouped together on another.

  Just like before, each css formed four teams of six pyers, making a total of four matches of 10 minutes to be pyed.

  On that note, our team was up for the first match, consisting of me, Misaki, one guy, and three other girls.

  As we stepped onto the court, some of our cssmates cheered us on—Yuka and Sanae among them.

  They had already seen what I was capable of during the previous PE session, so it wasn't surprising that some of them had high expectations for me.

  And honestly, having people cheer for me didn’t feel bad at all.

  All the more reason not to let them down. A game like this, relying on agility and reflexes, is just my kind of thing.

  I turned my gaze toward the opposing team from Css 1-B, the team we would be facing. Their lineup was the complete opposite of ours—four guys and two girls.

  However, my attention was instantly captured by just one person among them. A girl with medium-length bck hair, the tips dyed a soft yellow, matching her golden eyes that radiated pure innocence.

  Her face was graced with a faint, gentle smile, exuding an aura of sweetness and naivety. Every aspect of her demeanor screamed elegance and an almost royal air, as if she had stepped out of some fairy tale.

  Yet, despite her innocent appearance, her figure told a very different story.

  Do I know her? Of course I do—very well, in fact. She’s also one of the "Heroines."

  I once mentioned how all the female leads were incredibly likable, but if someone had asked me back when I was watching *Troubled Heroines* who my favorite was, my answer would have been her—without hesitation.

  The reason ties back to my strange, deep-rooted desire to help others. For some reason, this girl had an aura about her that triggered all my protective instincts, raising them to the maximum.

  I just wanted to protect her—shield her innocent self from the harsh, deceitful world. That was the kind of effect she has. The kind of characteristics she has.

  "Hayato, are you okay? You seemed to be zoning out," Misaki asked from the side, pulling me out of my reverie.

  "I’m fine. I was just thinking about something," I sighed, brushing it off.

  She gave me a teasing grin, her eyes sparkling mischievously. "Is that 'something' reted to that girl over there? You were staring pretty hard. Do you know her?"

  As expected, she noticed. I simply shrugged, keeping my tone casual.

  "I was just assessing their abilities," I replied, acting as nonchant as possible.

  I stole one st gnce at the girl, only to notice something interesting— the four guys on her team were treating her like some kind of princess, and even the other girl, instead of showing any signs of jealousy, was acting the same way.

  It was as if their entire css naturally revolved around her. With the sharp bst of a whistle, the match began.

  Misaki and I had decided to take on the role of defenders, while the other three headed off to invade the enemy’s territory.

  The reason I chose to stay back, despite my good agility, was simple—defenders carries far more pressure. With only two of us standing guard, we had to stop three attackers. I didn’t want to leave it up to a 50-50 chance of who captured whose fg first.

  As long as we could hold their attackers at bay, we would have the advantage and could win sooner or ter.

  As for Misaki, her decision to py defender was because she wasn’t confident enough in her agility to be an effective attacker.

  By the way, that girl from Css 1-B—the one they were calling "Princess"—was assigned the role of the unfreezer.

  It was obvious they didn’t want to put any real burden on her, so they gave her the lightest and least risky role in the game.

  For a while, the odds seemed evenly matched. Both teams were locked in a back-and-forth, each freezing and unfreezing their attackers with precision.

  But that stalemate didn’t st long.

  Something shifted, tipping the bance of the match.

  While Misaki and I were busy freezing the enemy attackers, the "Princess" was doing her best to unfreeze them. However, we couldn’t just stay by one attacker; there were three of them, and only two of us on defense.

  We had to constantly juggle between freezing their attackers, unable to focus on just one.

  Then, the "Princess" managed to unfreeze another of their attackers. I noticed it immediately, and after freezing one of their attackers, I made my move to tap the freed.

  But as she attempted to free the others, something unexpected happened—she clumsily tripped.

  And that was the moment everything went wrong.

  As I mentioned earlier, she had this aura about her that triggered all my protective instincts. How could I possibly turn a blind eye to her falling? Without thinking, my body moved instinctively, and instead of going after the freed attacker, I reached out and caught her with one arm, steadying her.

  The problem was, in doing so, I had left the other attacker unchecked. With no one to stop him, he sprinted toward our fg.

  Misaki, too far away to intervene, couldn’t catch him in time. In the end, he captured our fg, and we lost the game.

  The teacher immediately blew the whistle, signaling the end of the match.

  As everything registered in my mind, I couldn’t help but facepalm with my free hand. This was so embarrassing. It was my fault our team lost.

  But even as I berated myself, I couldn’t bring myself to regret catching her. My instincts had just taken over.

  "Umm, thank you for catching me, Mister, but you lost because of me," the girl in my arms said, her voice soft as I continued to berate myself.

  She had regained her bance and stood on her own, and I reluctantly retracted my hand. My other hand, which had been pressed against my face, ran through my hair in frustration.

  "That's true, but it's not your fault," I said calmly, trying to ease her guilt. "I just didn't pyed my role well."

  She looked like she was about to say something more, but before she could, her cssmates Swarm her and swept her away, pulling her back into their group.

  "You’re too kind for your own good," Misaki commented as she approached me.

  I sighed, still holding my hairs backward. "I just can't help it. Sorry we lost because of me."

  She shrugged and shook her head, as if it didn't matter to her. "I don’t mind. I understand how you are. But others... perhaps wouldn’t understand that."

  She was right. That’s exactly why I felt compelled to apologize to the rest of my teammates for my mistake. They expressed their disappointment, but, to my relief, they didn’t bme me too much. They somehow understood.

  On the other hand, the group of guys who didn’t like me were overjoyed by my failure. They didn’t miss a chance to comment on my mistake, their voices full of smug satisfaction.

  I ignored them. It wasn’t like their words meant anything to me.

  Misaki and I made our way to the spectating area of our css, settling down to watch as it was now Yuka and Sanae’s turn.

  Before their match began, they gnced at me, and without hesitation, I shouted, “Good luck!”

  I wasn’t the only one shouting words of encouragement, but even if no one had joined in, I would have done the same. They never shied away from encouraging me, so why should I hesitate to do the same for them?

  Sanae was assigned as their unfreezer, while Yuka took on the role of one of the attackers. Both of them gave it their all, and with the combined effort of their entire team, they managed to secure a win in the end.